HCG Diet - Win or Lose?

cdburger94
cdburger94 Posts: 23 Member
edited November 12 in Health and Weight Loss
I am watching Dr. Drew and I was astonished that a person could eat only 500 calories per day. It claims that you can lose 1-2 pounds per day. Doesn't seem healthy, and once the diet is over and you go back to eating the amount of calories per day that you're supposed to, won't you gain a ton of weight back?

I'd like to know if anyone's tried this, the results, and what you think. If it's worked and you haven't gained everything back, I may just try it.

Replies

  • lizard053
    lizard053 Posts: 2,344 Member
    My doctor had tried it with some of her nurses, and the results were neutral. She does not recommend it to the patients. I say don't waste the money.
  • paula29102
    paula29102 Posts: 6 Member
    It was the "rage" here in our small town for a while and yes you will lose the weight very quickly. Most of the people I know who did this gained the weight back pretty rapidly. It truly is a grueling way to lose.
  • cydonian
    cydonian Posts: 361 Member
    It's pretty obvious what this diet does. It supplies you with a "drop" that costs money and then you eat 500 calories each day. You're not losing weight from the drops, you're losing weight by only eating 500 calories per day and starving yourself. Dangerous crash diet, it's not healthy.
  • Sl1ghtly
    Sl1ghtly Posts: 855 Member
    HCG has never been proven to aide in weightloss. A 500 calorie/day diet has been proven very unhealthy.

    I vote lose.
  • cdburger94
    cdburger94 Posts: 23 Member
    My doctor had tried it with some of her nurses, and the results were neutral. She does not recommend it to the patients. I say don't waste the money.

    Yeah, it is quite pricey. I do not think I could survive off of 500 cals/day. That seems too crazy.
    Thanks for the input!
  • TNoire
    TNoire Posts: 642 Member
    Ive never done it but my doctor shakes his head at this diet

    its not healthy

    as a female 1200 cals a day min
    male 1800 cals a day min

    HCG isn't something your gonna do forever most i know that do it lose weight sure but only very little
    your body goes into starvation mode
    weight comes back twice as fast
    your back to square one

    it also causes health problems over time

    don't believe everything you hear...
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,988 Member
    I am watching Dr. Drew and I was astonished that a person could eat only 500 calories per day. It claims that you can lose 1-2 pounds per day. Doesn't seem healthy, and once the diet is over and you go back to eating the amount of calories per day that you're supposed to, won't you gain a ton of weight back?

    I'd like to know if anyone's tried this, the results, and what you think. If it's worked and you haven't gained everything back, I may just try it.
    LOSE. And I mean it as bad thins.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • Coco_Puff
    Coco_Puff Posts: 823 Member
    My sister did it and lost some weight. Has since gained it back and has health problems. She was never sick a day in her life til she did this diet. She did Zumba 5 days a week before HCG. Now she has such weakness in her lower body, she can't do that type of workout anymore. She is very unhappy and I think it's due to the HCG.
  • Hello,

    Good luck with your weight loss goals, but the HCG diet is not a safe way to jump start the process. I know people that tried it and had horrible experiences. Yes, they lost weight fast, but they were tired and sick most of the time they were on 500 calories, and then when they started eating in a normal, healthy calorie range again, they regained rapidly -- even though they were eating healthy and exercising. So basically, it's just another yo yo fad diet, but more dangerous than most because of the extremely low calorie limitations.

    The only reason people lose weight on that plan is you are only allowed to eat 500 calories a day. HCG has been scientifically proven to do NOTHING to help with weight loss or to make it safe to eat only 500 calories a day. It will not protect muscle, reset your metabolism or do anything else the snake oil salesmen that sell it claim. Dr. Simeons was a quack doctor. His "HCG protocol" has absolutely NO scientific backing and is not worth risking your health on.

    The HCG diet has been studied by many scientific organizations, and they all concluded that HCG, even the "real" injectable version, is no more effective than a placebo, and eating only 500 calories a day for weeks, as recommended by that plan, can cause more health problems than it solves.

    The MFP moderators have been cautioning members against attempting that diet because it is so dangerous.

    Please read the articles on these websites before you try HCG. I know some people that put their faith in the HCG diet, and became very ill from malnutrition as a result. Then they regained more weight than they lost. Now they wish they never heard of HCG.

    The Government is now in the process of getting all that fraudulent stuff off the market, and it's about time!

    http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm281333.htm

    http://www.myhealthnewsdaily.com/hcg-diet-dangerous-1428

    http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hcg-diet/AN02091

    http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/truth-about-hcg-for-weight-loss

    http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/weight-loss-cure-dont-want-you-to-know

    http://www.dietscam.org/reports/hcg.shtml

    http://www.tucsonmedical.com/pages/hcg.php
  • gettinthere
    gettinthere Posts: 529 Member
    I did it for a bit. I didn't find myself very hungry on it, but I was very weak. I lost some weight but gained it all back plus a couple more when I stopped. I had to stop because I love to exercise, and they recommend no sweating while on it!
  • SCC88
    SCC88 Posts: 215 Member
    I don't know anything about the HCG diet but when I was 17 years old I ate 500 kcals a day because I heard that was how Nichol Ritchie lost weight *rolls eyes*. I lost 4 stone in 2 months and my hair started falling out, my nails all snapped off and I started bruising easily. Luckily I stopped starving myself before I became anemic but I gained back six stone :-(
    On the up side I joined MFP and now I'm 12lbs away from the weight I was when I was 17 (& healthy) and I did it in about 6 months on 1400kcals a day :-) xx
  • ImperfektAngel
    ImperfektAngel Posts: 811 Member
    WOW! 500 cals a day, I could never do this! I would starve
This discussion has been closed.